NY Knicks: Are James Bouknight and Moses Moody prime trade-up targets?

NY Knicks: James Bouknight has All-Star potential

James Bouknight has had his name flying around NBA circles as one of the draft’s biggest risers. The Brooklyn native already shows an eye-opening blend of athleticism, ball-handling, and shooting that a lot of NBA scouts believe bode really well for his potential in the league.

Bouknight is another player who wouldn’t shock me if he went 9th overall but he could even be there at 19th. We just don’t know what’s going to happen with all of the players in that range who have their draft projection all over the place.

James Bouknight can check a lot of the same boxes that Moody does. While he doesn’t have the same long, powerful frame that Moody has, Bouknight definitely has an edge when it comes to his bag of moves.

He averaged just under 19 points per game for the UConn Huskies this past season. Aside from his production, what really matters is that his tape translates. Bouknight is an NBA athlete.

Standing just a hair below 6’5 with a wingspan just under 6’8, he has great size for a shooting guard. It’s easy to envision a starting lineup where Barrett moves over to the 3 and Bouknight slots in as a microwave scorer at the 2.

Bouknight has the ball-handling and shooting skills that could help New York’s offense take a step forward in 2021-22 should he get a prominent role early on. He should be high up on their list of trade-up targets.